Snowboard Review Blog + Features (Archive)
Snowboard Trick Tip Movies on the whole are the most frustratingly rubbish instructional videos on the planet. Browse Youtube or Vimeo and you’ll find hundreds of them, it seems every man and his dog has given them a go. Until recently I’d been blown away by the complete lack of anything resembling instruction in such videos, sorry but “pop hard, throw your shoulders, spot your landing and then ride away stocked” isn’t going to cut it when I want to work out the mechanics of a backside rodeo.
Then about a year ago stuck at my desk in the centre of London dreaming of fresh lines and going through a number of tricks in my head, I got a Facebook message from my brother Tom who at the time was spending the winter in Verbier. The posted link was about a new instructional video he’d found on Youtube that had helped him stick his BS 540s and move onto 720s. The video was the ‘Advanced Spinning Lesson’ by Snowboard Addiction. Nev and the team went through each aspect of spinning from run-up to spin initiation in such detail that it instantly blew every other instructional video I’d ever laid my eyes on out of the water. I emailed the guys at Snowboard Addiction to find out a bit more about their plans for the future and their other video tutorials.
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Snowboard Addiction - Probably the best trick tutorials in the world
Among the swathes of junk mail I found in my Snowboard-Review mailbox this morning I found an email from independent French snowboard brand APO with a link to a podcast on their Team binding. Now to repost that podcast or “APOdcast” as they like to call them would be blatant free advertising, but hey as far as rear entry bindings go the APO Team is one of the best products out there. You can tell tons of R&D has gone into the bindings, firstly because it isn’t just an SP binding that has been rebranded by APO and secondly because when the highback is pulled up the ankle strap tightens around the ankle meaning gone are the days of having to rachet your straps anyway, which kind of defeats the object.
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Apo Team Step-In Binding Podcast
The Burton Sherlock is a very different snowboard; that much is certain as soon as you lay your eyes on it. That’s what is so good about the big powerhouse in our industry, Burton want to keep snowboard technology progressing. Who bought us extended binding highbacks? Which company was instrumental in the development and boom in popularity of tapered powder boards like the famous Fish? Yep that’ll be Burton. So what’s so exciting about the Sherlock and its new shape? Well to start with it’s pretty much a true twin and you don’t often call a twin a powder board. Then there’s the Flying V profile, again not particularly revolutionary; Burton, Nitro, Rome, Never Summer and Mervin have been combining a rockered profile with cambered tips for the last couple of seasons. Where the Sherlock differs from all of these boards is that it uses a really deep sidecut with a standard waist width, on the 157 I was riding the sidecut radius was around 6m. So that the tips don’t get super wide at the start of the effective edge Burton have cut the sidecut short meaning that the sidecut blends into a flat section before it blends into the nose and tail radius, Burton call these flat sections “Side Effects”. This little design tweak gives the Sherlock three unique properties. For a twin shape the nose and tail have a relatively large volume under at the nose and tail providing a bit of extra float for riding deep days. Secondly, these flat sections reduce the boards drag in deep powder making switching edges much less catchy and less effort too, at least that’s the theory. Thirdly the super tight sidecut and relatively soft flex mean that in softer snow the Sherlock can turn on a dime, the Sherlock will switch direction faster than a London Cab. So what does it ride like?
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Tested - 2011 Burton Sherlock 157
Two weeks ago conditions in my local resorts were incredible. We had two foot of fresh snow and enough of a base to make pretty much all of the lift accessible freeriding lines rideable, and best of all it was just myself and a lucky few free to enjoy it. In the last couple of weeks the conditions have changed dramatically. The weather went through a very warm period of around 6 degrees and then refroze to form a base of sheet ice. To add to this the groomers and park are now experiencing the busiest week of the year the lift queues make London Undergrounds Holborn Station at Rush hour feel like a walk through a country park. For the first time in a very long while I have been wearing a lid. If I’m going to get injured this season it’s not going to be because I was stupid enough to leave my Helmet at home. It would only take a small fall or some out of control lunatic to run into me to knock my brains out.
The only problem is, I’m pretty vain and when I’m snowboarding I like my gear to look sharp and if that means wearing my beanie under my helmet then that’s how I’m going to wear it. The problem is I’ve been blessed with a fairly strange shaped cranium and finding a helmet that fits comfortably and that doesn’t wobble about like a jelly on a plate is almost impossible. With this in mind I’ve conducted a little bit of research into helmets on the market where the fit is adjustable, more accurately customizable. It appears that helmet technology has moved-on leaps and bounds over the last couple of years.
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Buyers Guide - Custom Fit Helmets
I was browsing the internet the other day looking for reviews on Jones boards that I haven’t had a chance to ride yet when I stumbled across a review from a snowboarder I really respect. Neil McNab was a huge influence to me when I was picking up snowboarding. Neil’s been Britsih champion more times than I’ve had hot dinners and was even in classic movies like Day Tripper. For the last decade and a half Neil has been based in Chamonix, France where he guides. Neil is one of the only snowboarders in the world to hold the UIAGM International ‘High Mountain Guide’ qualification and also holds an ISIA instructors qualification. If Neil thinks a freeride snowboard is good… it is! I dropped Neil a quick email to see if I could re-post his thoughts on Snowboard-Review.com and the fact that you’re reading this article says it all. Below is Neil’s take on the Jones Hovercraft 156, it sounds a bit good!
Posted by Rich Ewbank.
Continue reading Neil McNab’s Take - Jones Hovercraft 156
